Arteta’s Arsenal 4231 in 2021 needs an Olivier Giroud with Pace? – Edouard or Lukaku anyone?
I read two excellent whilst differing articles on Sunday, after Arsenal’s limp attacking display at Villa Park. Both were posing questions about Arteta’s strikers and while differing in their conclusions, the consistent message was that perhaps neither Lacazette or Aubameyang are the central striker the manager needs or wants for his team. Given that the […]
Could The Cherries Spanish Left-back Diego Rico be the perfect understudy for Kieran Tierney?
Having only just seen the close of the January Transfer Window, the one area, many feel Arsenal failed to address was the cover/competition for Kieran Tierney at left back. These concerns were there at the star of the window when Kolasinac was allowed to leave on loan and Arteta himself highlighted the area as one […]
Big Wednesday ahead for Arsenal’s injury-riddled Ladies: why are they struggling?
Twelve games, seven wins, forty goals scored, eleven conceded. Good numbers – or not?Fourth place in the table, nine behind Chelsea and Manchester United at the top of the table, seems to suggest not.Of course, we have one game less than Chelsea and Manchester City and two games less than Manchester United, but the league […]
Half-term report on Gunners youngster Mark McGuinness at Ipswich Town
Arsenal’s Republic of Ireland U21 international defender Mark McGuinness has spent the first half of the 2020/21 season with League One promotion hopefuls Ipswich Town. The Suffolk side snapped up McGuinness on a season-long loan following an impressive solo display in the Gunners’ under-23 side which defeated Ipswich at Portman Road in the EFL Trophy. […]
Is Odsonne Eduoard Arteta’s Giroud with Pace?
I read two excellent articles after Saturday’s disappointing loss at Villa Park, both looking at Arsenal’s striker issues in slightly different ways. One described it as ‘our penalty box problem’. Both Lacazette and Aubameyang are top strikers with differing attributes, indeed the Arsenal captain, is arguably world class. However, the question raised is whether either, […]
Good onya Mat Ryan – Joining a hectic Arsenal Aussie invasion ….
The Aussie invasion has been a slow burner. Mat Ryan became the first (male) Aussie to play for The Arsenal since 1978 when John Kosmina played his one and only league game for The Gunners vs Leeds United on August 19th. As most of you probably don’t know, Kosmina played for the Socceroos (Aussies have […]
The Penalty Box Problem – how Arteta can fix Arsenal’s goalscoring disfunction
The Penalty Box Problem POSITIVES, NEEDS and HOPES Well, that wasn’t November and it wasn’t January. It was somewhere in between. The Keeper was very good, defence was uncharacteristically nervous, the midfield dominated but it was the attackers or more to the point, the attacking, that was stuck deep in November. There are multiple layers […]
A 10 Point Assessment of Arsenal’s January Transfer Window
In the days after the window closes for most fans will be mentally assessing how the club performed in the January Transfer Window. On the 2nd February 2021 are we better equipped to build on the positive momentum, the team’s form since Christmas has created? Here is a 10-point summary with the positives and negatives: […]
Arsenal never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. (Since forever.)
Faced with the chance to climb into the upper echelons of the (misleading) Premier League table and capitalise on the recent shabby performances of our Super League colleagues, Arsenal did what Arsenal does: they took all the recent momentum, the promising performances, a solid defensive partnership, a goalkeeper in fine form, a coach’s hard-earned respect, […]
Arsenal loans Ainsley Maitland Niles to West Brom: shrewd business or tragic misstep? You decide…
So, Transfer Deadline Day passed through with not too many fireworks from the Arsenal camp. Most of the touted departures happened except maybe for Reiss Nelson. https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1356250757905973250 The most interesting departure to me wasn’t really about the player but the choice of club for Ainsley Maitland-Niles. West Bromwich Albion? I mean no disrespect to […]